Break down barriers! The Swiss Stock Exchange SIX is authorized to offer "cryptocurrency custody" services, fully integrating digital and traditional assets

Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX) Receives Historic Approval from the Country’s Regulator (FINMA) to Fully Integrate Digital Asset Custody Business into Traditional Central Securities Depositories and Officially Offer “Cryptocurrency Custody” Services.
This means that in the future, banks and financial institutions will be able to securely manage both traditional stocks and crypto assets through a single, strictly regulated platform.
(Background recap: 4,500 Bitcoin private keys vanish into thin air! Polish exchange Zondacrypto collapses, CEO flees to Israel, Prime Minister accuses Russian mafia infiltration)
(Additional background: SBI plans to acquire Japan’s bitbank exchange, second acquisition within a month)

Table of Contents

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• “Unified” Digital and Traditional Assets, Breaking the Dual-Track System
• Approved Cryptocurrency Custody, Lowering Barriers for Institutional Entry
• Layout in Europe’s Digital Financial Landscape

Switzerland has once again taken a historic step on its path to promote global digital financial compliance.

As the operator of Switzerland’s core financial market infrastructure, Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX) announced it has successfully obtained significant structural change approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), officially bridging the final gap between traditional securities and digital assets.

“Unified” Digital and Traditional Assets, Breaking the Dual-Track System

In recent years, SIX has adopted a “dual-track” approach to handle different types of assets: traditional market transactions are managed by the established SIX SIS AG, while blockchain-based digital assets are operated independently by SIX Digital Exchange AG.

According to FINMA’s latest green light approval, SIX will undergo a deep structural reorganization, integrating the digital central securities depository (CSD) directly into the long-standing SIX SIS AG unit. This integration thoroughly eliminates the infrastructure gap between traditional finance and digital assets, creating a single, regulated legal entity that supports cross-asset, end-to-end trading and post-trade operations on one unified platform.

Approved Cryptocurrency Custody, Lowering Barriers for Institutional Entry

Beyond system deep integration, the most exciting part of this regulatory license is FINMA’s official authorization for SIX to provide cryptocurrency custody services through this merged central securities depository.

This is a major boon for traditional finance eager to venture into crypto. In the future, banks and asset management firms will be able to manage their crypto assets within a trusted, FINMA-regulated framework, just like traditional stocks and bonds. This development offers clear advantages:

• Highly secure legal and operational guarantees: The institution’s crypto assets will be held alongside traditional assets within a proven, regulated depository, greatly enhancing legal certainty and asset security.
• Seamless operational experience: Market participants will no longer need to operate multiple complex systems for different assets, relying instead on a simplified, single connection gateway, greatly reducing administrative burdens.

Layout in Europe’s Digital Financial Landscape

The SIX Group, jointly owned by about 120 financial institutions, has always regarded shortening the gap between traditional finance and the digital economy as a core strategy, maintaining steady operational performance through 2025.

Rafael Moral Santiago, head of SIX’s securities services and a member of the executive committee, stated that the company’s ultimate goal is to provide financial institutions with a “single and secure entry point” into digital assets. He explained:

“Expanding the existing central securities depository to include cryptocurrency custody perfectly combines the latest innovative technology with the stability of existing systems.”

This plan is also a key piece of SIX’s vision toward 2030, aiming to become Europe’s most comprehensive integrated post-trade solution provider. Industry experts generally see FINMA’s approval as a strong signal that digital asset infrastructure is accelerating toward maturity; with increased regulatory clarity and system integration, traditional institutions’ adoption of cryptocurrencies is expected to accelerate significantly.